The Chinese Classics

2 Yen, and came to the honoured city of Chow. The duke of Chow said, "The king speaks to the following effect, 'Ho! I make an announcement for you of the four kingdoms and many other regions. Ye who were the officers and people of the prince of Yin, I have dealt very leniently as regards your lives, as ye all know. You

3 kept reckoning greatly upon some decree of Heaven, and did not keep with perpetual awe before your thoughts the jireservation of your sacrifices.

Intbodcctoet Note. The Preface to the Shoo contains the names of two Books now lust, which had their place between ' The Charge to Chung of Ts'ae' and 'The Numerous Regions.' The one was styled 'The Government of king Chins,' and was made on occasion of an expedition of the king to the east, when he smote the wild tribes of the Hwae, and extinguished the State of Yen (j|£ <0j

M il£ Tl)eother,iadrtfcrence

to the king's removal of the chief or ruler of

Yen to the district of R'oo-koo in j

Ts'e, and was styled fj^ ^f, which we

do not know how to translate, being unable, from the loss of the Book, to say how the

character should be taken. The Book

that now comes under our notice was a sequel to these two, the prefatory note saying that it was made on the return of the king to Haott

fromYen(r££-^|Tl*£,;£^

Now, the prefatory note to 'The Great Announcement ' says that after king Woo'9 death,

when Woo-kang and the three uncles of Ching, who had been placed as overseers of him in Yin, rebelled, the wild tribes of the Hwae rose at the same time and made common cause with them. In 'The Numerous Officers,' p. 21, again, the king is made to say to the nobles of Yin, that, 'when he came from Yen,' he dealt very leniently with them. The question ltas been raised whether, in those and other notices, we have intimations of only one expedition against the tribes of the Hwae and Yen, or of successive expeditions. On the lost Book of 'The Govt, of king Clung,' Ch'ing K'ang-shing says that the exploits described in it were those of the duke of Chow when he put down the rebellion of his brothers, and that he did not know how the Book had been arranged in the place assigned to it in the Preface. Keang Shing, Wang Ming-shing, and others, who all but swear to the words of Ch'ing, would arrange all the Books I have mentioned before 'The Numerous Officers' In the standard chronology, moreover, the 'Numerous Regions' is assigned to the fifth year of king Ching, B.C. 1,110 (or 1,111). On the other hand, Uan-kwS maintains that the wild tribes spoken of were not tamed by one visit of the imperial forces. Thejduke of Chow smote them, he says, and Yen with them, when quelling the rebellion of his brothers and Woo-k&ng, but they rebelled again when the duke had resigned the regency, and the king himself, probably attended by his uncle, took the field against them; and it was on his return from extinguishing the State of Yen, that the announcement contained in the 'Numerous Regions' was made. It is of the operations at this time against the Hwae and other wild tribes, he thinks, that mention is made in 'The speech at Pe.'

I am inclined in this matter to adopt the view of Gan-kwo. We may conclude from the arrangement of the Book's that this was the opinion of the compiler of the Preface. If we may credit what Mencius says, the records of the Shoo do not tell us a tithe of the wars carried on by the duke of Chow to establish the new dynasty:—'He smote Yen, and after three years put its ruler to death. He drove Fei-leen to a corner by the sea and slew him. The states which he extinguished amounted to fifty' (Mencius, Bk. III., Pt. H., ix., 6). I may conclude this note with the remarks of Shoo Shin on the difficulty with which the dynasty of Chow was established. He says:—'"The Great Announcement," "The Announcement to the prince of K'ang," "The Ann. about Drunkenness," "The timber ofthe Tsze," "The Ann. of the duke of Shaou," "The Ann. about L6," "The Numerous Officers," and "The Numerous Regions,"—these eight pieces, each having its different subject, yet have all a general reference to the fact that the minds of the people of Yin would not submit to Chow. When I have read "The Great Speech," and "The Completion of the War," I have always exclaimed—'How easily did Chow take the empire from Yin!' But when I read these eight Books, I exclaim— 'With what difficulty did Chow bring Yin to a quiet submission!' "The Numerous Regions" was addressed not to the off. of Yin only, but also to those of the other regions throughout the empirep-- showing us that it was not the people of Yin only who refused to acknowledge the

new sway. One can understand how deep had been the influence of the six virtuous kings who came after T'ang. Under the tyranny of Show, the people were as if in the midst of flaming fire, and they turned to Chow as water flows downwards, without thinking of the virtue of the former kings. But when the empire was a little settled, they were no longer amid the fires, and their thoughts turned to the seven emperors of Yin, as a child thinks of its parents. Though sages like king Woo and the duke of Chow followed one another with their endeavours to soothe them, their insurrectionary movements could not be repressed. Had the new dynasty not possessed the duke of Chow, it could hardly have been established.—This he knew, and it was this which made him apprehensive, and that he did not dare to withdraw from public

life.' See the ^

The Name Of The Book.—^£ 'The

Numerous Regions.' The phrase occurs in the 2d par., and up and down throughout the greater portion of the Book; and hence it is used to designate the whole, indicating that it was addressed to the representatives not of one region, but of many. In parr. 24—29, the phrase

^» -fr, 'numerous officers,' takes the place of

^ i^JJ, and Woo Ch'ing has removed so much to the former Book;—for which he is hardly to be blamed. 'The Numerous Regions' is found in both the texts.

Contents. The king has returned to his capital in triumph, having put down rebellion in the east, and specially extinguished the State or tribe of Yen. A great assembly of princes and nobles,—the old officers of Yin, and chiefs from many regions besides,—is gathered on the occasion. They are all supposed to have been secretly, if not openly, in sympathy with the rebellion which has been trampled out, and to grudge to yield submission to the rule of Chow. The king, by the duke of Chow, reasons and expostulates with them. He insists on the leniency with which he had dealt with them in the past; and whereas they might be saying that Chow's overthrow of the Yin dynasty was a usurpation, he shows that it was from the will of Heaven. The history of the empire is reviewed, and it is made to appear that king Woo had displaced the emperors of Shang, just as T'ang, the founder of Shang, had displaced the emperors of Uea. It was the course of duty for them therefore to submit to Chow. If they did not avail themselves of its leniency, they should be dealt with in another way.

Having thus spoken, the duke turns, at par. 24, and addresses the many officers of the States, and especially those of Yin who had been removed to L5, speaking to them in the style of 'The Numerous Officers.' Finally he reminds them all that it is time for them to begin a new course. If they do well, all will be well with them; if they continue perverse, they will have themselves to blame for the consequences.

Ch. I. Pp. 1—12. Time When, And ParTies TO WHOM THE ANNOUNCEMENT WAS HADE. A REVIEW OF THE DOWNFALL OF TUE Hea, Dynasty, And of The History Of That Op Bhang ;—To Show Tiik Way Of Hfavknin The Kisk And Fall Of The imperial Sway. 1 .

See the introductory note. On and

the

note.

tes on Bk. XIV., p. 21. Gaubil

m

observes that whereas the most approved history of the empire refers the date of this Book to the 5th year of king Ching, or B.c. 1,111, there really was no day Ting-hue in the 5th month of that year in the calendar of Chow. The correctness of his observation is easily verified, for the Chow year corresponding to n.c. 1,111, must have commenced with the cycle day

^■r But we have seen (p. 421) that it

was in the year B.c. 1,098 that the duke of Chow resigned the regency. The next year, B.c. 1,097, began, if the calendar was correct, on the 6th

cycle day, or E!, and the 5th month must

have commenced with the day J or

so that the day Ting-hae would be the 20th

or 21st of it. Gan-kwO arrived at the same

result from his view that the day ]j£ J^, Bk.

XIII., p. 29, was the last day of the year. Let these numerical statements have whatever weight is due to them;—they seem to me to show that this Book follows 'The Announcement about LO,' in chronological order, and that we are right in rejecting the early date assigned to it by K'ang-shing and his followers.

nouueement is thus introduced differently from any that have preceded. 'The Great Announcement' for instance begins with E

though the king could have had little or nothing to do with it. The language of it, like the expedition which it vindicated, was all from the duke of Chow. The compilers of the Books, however,

did not think it necessary to prefix a M

P, as they have done here. The only reason

for the addition in the text at all satisfactory assumes (what I have inferred on other grounds) that this announcement was made after the duke had resigned the regency. The king might then have been expected to declare his sentiments in his own person. He did not do so on this occasion. There were reasons, no doubt, for his not doing so, though we cannot assign them. The duke of Chow was spokesman as before; and to indicate their different positions we have the prefix—' The duke of Chow said.'

see upon Bk. VII stands by [7tj jg

quarters of the empire' (|JE| ^ jgjj i. and

by ^> ,'the people of all the States' (

J^)- This is ingenious but not satisfactory. Ill? [ggj ^ stand collaterally, and indicate different regions. The 'many regions' are more extensive than the 'four States,' and cannot be taken as embraced in

them. We must understand the |7tJ Jj^J as in

O

p. 1. Woo Ch'ing underall the States in the four

Bk. XIV., p. 21, of the imperial domain of Shang or Yin, which had been divided into four parts presided over by three of king Woo's brothers, and by Woo-kftng, the son of Show. It seems to me absurd to suppose, with Keang Shing, that Yen was one of the States thus classed together.

Then by ^ f$ are intended the princes and people of other regions generally. It is probable the people of Yen, in the rising which had been quelled, had raised the standard of the fallen dynasty, and that the issue of their struggle had been eagerly waited for by the people of the old imperial domain, and of other eastern regions. However that may be, the duke of Chow and other friends of the new dynasty thought the time a fitting one to give another and general exposition of the grounds on which they vindicated for it the sovereignty of the

empire. <\fc |g f% ^ ^, ^

—by Jjjjj 'the prince of Yin,' is denoted

Woo-kSng. Keang Shing takes J^! = ^|., so

|j j|j, 'ye princes of the empire, governing

the people;' but such a meaning of Al in this place is very unlikely. Woo Ch'ing retains Jjjj in the sense of ' the Yin dynasty,' but takes

the clause in the same way as Shing (J^jj

-05 ^5" S ^), saying that whereas

the ' people' were addressed in N jgjj ^>

the speaker here rises to address their

'rulers' Git R ffi Bl # j£ ft). But there is no such gradation of thought in the text, and Clriug's exegesis lies under the additional disadvantage of making 'l^^3 'and.' The duke of Chow, having called the attention of all in the assembly to what he had to say

(o-M PI H heroturnsand

addresses himself more particularly to the nobles and people who had occupied the imperial domain of Yin. I understand '^3*

'Daily Explanation' differently:—j

A 1^ M tfrT'-800onBk-XIV- 21- 1

understand the language here as in that previous passage, in accordance with the views of Ts'ae. Here, however, he supposes that the king says he is sparing their lives a second time, and

jf\ ^fj, 'Be ye all aware of this' But this clause and the former are to me plainly historical, and refer to what is past. Ts'ae's view is fully and clearly expanded in the 'Daily Explanation:'-|g jffi ^ ft %As
This par. is the key-note to the Book, and it is right to connect it closely with what precedes. The subject of it is ' the officers and people of Yin,' who had deemed the empire belonged to the House of T'ang by a 'divine right'

'God sent down correction on Hea, but the sovereign only increased his luxury and sloth, and would not speak kindly to the people. He proved himself on the contrary dissolute and dark, and would not yield for a single day to the leading of God;—this

Z. tlflan(* did aoicons'°'er 'natwnat Heaven had given, it might and would take away, if there were not the earnest and virtuous discharge of the duties of government. Ts'ae makes Yen to be the subject of the par. Thus the 'Daily Explanation' follows the passage just quoted with—'And do you know the reason why Yen has perished? The people of Yen presumed greatly on their private views, reckoned on the decree of supreme Heaven, and with evil action rose in rebellion. They used no far-reaching reverent forethought, which would have led them to obey the laws, and rest in their lot, whereby they would have preserved the sacrifices to their ancestors. They have thus suddenly brought destruction on themselves' s do you look to Yen as a beacon, and know that the decree of Heaven is not to be rashly sought or relied on.' But why should we suppose that the speaker has here the State of Yen in view? It is mentioned indeed in the 1st par., hut that is an addition by the compiler, and Yen is nowhere referred to in the address. It was too insignificant, moreover, to occupy the place which must be assigned to it, if we suppose that the announcement is thus made to turn upon its history.

No similar objections can be made to the view which I have taken. The sacrifices to the emperors of the Yin dynasty were allowed, in the generous clemency of king Woo, to be continued by their lineal descendant Woo-kSng, the son of the tyrant Show; but no sooner was Woo dead, than he and his adherents rose in rebellion against the new dynasty, and brought down new and heavy punishments, though still tempered with mercy, upon themselves. I am surprised that none of the Chinese critics have thus connected the 2d and 3d parr.

Gan-kwii joined the 3d par. with the 4th, and supposed that KcC, the last emperor of the Hea dyn., was the subject of it. Kcang Shing deals with it very inanely, saying that it is a general declaration, =' Should kings reckon on the decree of Heaven, and not reverently consul t with long forethought, for their sacrifices' (^f»

$g JpE, ^p-)? flfe.-see on the same

characters in Bk. VII., p. 1. Kiiang Siting would make them in both places merely a phrase of introduction or exclamation ; but we are not reduced to have recourse to such a device.

Pp. 4—7. How the sovereignty of the empire passed from the House of Hea to 7*'anff. 4. Ts'ae thinks that some paragraphs introductory to this have been lost, his reason being that it is the custom in the Shoo to precede the account of the downfall of a dynasty because of the wickedness of its last emperor with a reference to the virtuous emperors who preceded him. That is the practice certainly, but the duke of Chow may not have observed it here. We are not obliged to suppose any loss of text.

m ^jj* T M'_c°mp-Bk- xiv-«

p. 5. The ' Daily Explanation' here takes

-JE if TM=i,,M

rowfully,' 'with sympathy' Jf\ ^Jj^ ^»

BUT tffZ& -n 0- - the

Analects and Mencius, is used for 'a whole day.' Here the phrase =' one day,' 1 a single

day.' Hang Shing has for it ' ;and

the 'Daily Explanation' gives J^C £J

'He could not for a single day he advised by (exert himself on) the leading of God,' —the critics dwell on the phrase—' the leading of God,' and understand by it the unceasing monitions of conscience,—all the ways by which the heart of man is touched in Providence, which may be described as efforts on the part of God to keep him from evil, and lead him into the way of righteousness. 6.

gt 'If T *

is what you have heard. He kept reckoning on the decree of God in his favour, and -would not promote the means of the people's support. By great inflictions of punishment also, he increased the disorder of the States of Hea. The first cause of his evil course was the internal misrule, which made him unfit to deal well with the multitudes. Nor did he seek at all to employ men whom he could

a noun, the subject of P|J. K'ang Shing and Wang Suh both took fj3 as ^-ijljl, or but they do not account for the jJJ. Equally unsatisfactory is the exegesis of Gan-kwS, who takes fj3 as if it were ^j^. With

^ comp. Bk. XIV., p. 13, ffc H £

2* W. & 9" IIeretfcistaken'by

all the critics except Woo Ch'ing, as = 'all the multitude of the people.' The only dif- ficulty in so taking it is with which would so be applied to describe the act of the superior to his inferiors,—which is contrary to its common usage. Feeling this, Ch'ing takes jfjfj^ as deno- ting the sacrifice to God which was so called (see the diet, in voe.\ who takes the clause as = 'he could not attend well to the sacrifices to God.' But this is so far-fetched that it is better to acquiesce in the other view, even with the

choose between tliis and the view of Ts'ae and Woo Ch'ing:—'Nor could he make great approaches towards the virtue of reverence in which he might have shown a generous largeness of heart to the people'

gave quite a different meaning to the second clause:—' Nor could he greatly advance to the virtue of reverence, but was very indifferent and idle in governing the people' ^§-J* '|^| ■f '/p Kcang Shing reads

instead of gj*, and interprets:—'The greatly

Ts'ae says that most of this p<ir. is not understood by him. He brings out the meaning which appears in the translation, however, and is on the whole more successful in dealing witli it than the other critics. The same subject evidently is continued,—the crimes of Kc6, which occasioned the overthrow of the Hea

dynasty, fjft ffi £ -^.-compare

the notes on 'The Speech of T'ang,' p. 3.

% IS T R £ *****

s'on2, J§!§ nasbeen taken variously. Gan-kwo explains by jjjj, so that the meaning is—'that which should be bestowed on the people,' viz., good govt, and lessons of instruction ; and the whole = he could not begin even to govern and instruct the people as lie ought. This is very unsatisfactory. In the

Yih King tfjjfe ^|%) it is said- ft Jf ^

Shing, taking there as = [JjiJ", 'to be attached to,' understands the text as =' he could not do what would make the people attached to him.' Ts'ae defined the character in the Yin

by 'to rely on,' and not by (JjiJ', from which he deduces the meaning of the text which I have given.—KeC made no provision for the necessaries of life among the people, such as food

and clothing. ~J*j ✓j^J JM,—this

continues the description of KeC. lie is the subject of Woo Ch'ing ou the contrary

understands' Heaven' as the subject of JraE-, and makes the clauses descriptive of the punishment of KeC. [gj f]Ef ^ J^,—the critics

are all agreed that by pij 'internal disorder,' we are to understand the vile debaucheries of which KeC was guilty in his connection with Ale-he (see pp. 170, 171).

With Ts'ae, Woo Ch'ing, and others, I take lp = ^fpj, 'to begin,' and |JJ is equivalent to